Technology

Qihoo Search To Boost Sales As It Battles Baidu

Qihoo 360 Technology (QIHU), the Chinese Web portal that's increasingly being seen as a competitor to Baidu (BIDU), is expected to report 71.8% sales growth and even profit for Q3.

Wall Street sees Qihoo reporting $81.6 million in sales, up from $47.5 million a year ago, according to analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Per-share profit excluding items is seen at 16 cents, even with last year.

The company's set to report late Monday.

Qihoo in August launched a search engine that's seen as a rival to Baidu's dominance over search in China.

During the last few years, Baidu's benefited from Google (GOOG) pulling almost entirely out of China, and hasn't had a true challenger to its search engine, which is seen as having more than two-thirds of all traffic in China.

But Qihoo already had been offering one of the most popular Web browsers in the country, and managed to steal 8% to 10% of the search traffic from Baidu in Q3, according to analyst Tian X. Hou, of Beijing-based T.H. Capital. Hou rates both Baidu and Qihoo stock with a buy rating.

Baidu, in response to the Qihoo threat, says it's investing heavily in new technology, including cloud and mobile features, that it hopes will help it keep users. The company seems to have a "renewed vitality" for innovation, says Hou.

But Baidu shares fell to a fresh two-year low on Friday. Its profit and sales growth have decelerated for several quarters.

Qihoo shares have been consolidating since late March, just managing to close above their 50-day moving average Friday. Qihoo is No. 10 in the latest IBD 50.